Animation Timeline

Techniques:

1. Zoetrope
2. Kinetiscope
3. Flick book
4. Cel animation
5. Rotoscoping
6. Drawn on film
7. Digital applications
8. Claymation

Animators:

1. Walt Disney
2. Hanna Barbera 
3. Warner Brothers
4. Norman McLaren
5. Aardman Animations

Zoetrope 

A Zoetrope is one of the several techniques that creates the illusion of motion by presenting a sequence of drawings or photographs showing successive phases of that motion.

The zoetrope consists of a cylinder with slits cut vertically in the sides. On the inside surface of the cylinder is a band with images from a set of sequenced images. As the cylinder spins, the user views through the slits at the images across. The inspecting of the slits maintains the pictures from simply blurring together, and the user views a rapid progression of images, creating the illusion of motion.

The modern zoetrope was invented in 1833, by British mathematician William George Horner.

Toy Story 2 - Buzz Lightyear opening scene

This is a 3D animation of Toy Story 3. The animation is from Walt Disney. Buzz lightyear flies across the galaxy and lands on a planet, searching for his enemy Zurg, however while he communicates with his communicator, he doesn't realize his enemies arrive and aim laser weapons at him but he dodges them all and fires his own weapon at them all using the crystal ice but he's blasted by the impact and drops on the other side of where he was when he landed. He starts running because scarps of the enemies he destroyed starts falling from the sky and he takes cover under a rock, however a detector machine comes from within the wall and has a satellite which tries to alert more enemies but buzz lightyear uses his laser weapon to shoot it and then the ground starts to split and he jumps in, Continues running to search for Zurg but falls for a trap set by Zurg. The door he needs to reach to escape from the trap starts to close but he continues to run and makes it and ends in a large room with what seems to be a battery from Zurg on the other side that buzz lightyear has also been searching for. As he walks, he sees these circles with gaps between each other floating and he starts to jump on each to reach the other side but as he jumps on the middle one, all the circles floating disappears and he falls but then he flies back up and lands on the other side. As he tries to take the battery from Zurg, he realizes it's just a hologram trap laid for him by Zurg, Zurg appears behind buzz lightyear and as he turns they start battling but buzz lightyear loses and is blasted with Zurg's laser weapon. In the end it was all a video game dinosaur was playing on the TV.

Kinetoscope

A kinetoscope is an early motion picture device / technique amongst several few. The kinetoscope was created for films to be viewed individually at a time through a peep hole viewer window at the top of the device. Although it wasn't a film projector but it welcomed the basic approach that would become the standard for all cinematic production before the introduction of video. It creates the illusion of movement by taking a strip of perforated film (this is when holes are placed on film stock during manufacturing and used for transporting and steadying the film) having sequential images over a light source with a high-speed shutter.

The device was largely developed by Thomas Edison's employee William Kennedy and Laurie Dickson between 1889 and 1892, however Thomas Edison also described the device in conceptual terms.

1910 A Trip to Mars - Thomas Edison

This is an early motion picture film. It came out in 1910 and it's called a trip to Mars from Thomas Edison. From what I perceive, it seems like one of the character which seems to me has to be a scientist as he has created a dust would enable humans or object to float or fly. He tries his experiment on a bowl with spoon and it works, to his excitement and astonishment he then tries his experiment again on a chair and it works, lastly he tries his experiment on himself and he flies off. However, he then lands on the planet Mars and explores around. He meets these new being which frighten him and he turns scared trying to run. He finds himself on top of rocks and is confused where he run towards until he realizes he's on the palm of what seems to me a gigantic goblin. The goblin laughs and starts to blow on him a strong wind which freezes the man into a snowball and then takes a spoon and puts the ice on top and places it on a burning fire until the snow turns bigger and bigger and disappears. Later on the film, the man's dust starts to wear off and he falls back into his office and out of fear, confusion and astonishment he takes all the dust and throws it on the floor but then his office starts to spin and fly off.

Flip Book

A flip or flick book is amongst several of technique which produces an illusion of motion. It is a book with a series of images that vary slowly from one page to the other, so that when the pages are turned fast, the pictures appear to animate by simulating motion. Flip books are often illustrated books for children, but may also be classed towards adults and employ a series of photographs rather than drawings.

The first flip book which appeared was in September, 1868, when it was produced by John Barnes Linnett under the name kineograph (this means moving pictures)

Goku vs Superman

This is a 2D animation of Superman and Goku from Dragon ball battling. The animation starts with superman flying towards something which I don't seem to know but suddenly Goku appears in front of him and stops him. They start battling rapidly, however Goku gradually starts to lose although he transforms into a super Goku. In the end, when Superman unleashes his greatest weapon, Goku transforms into a special transformation which increases his strength and speed, he ends up defeating and slaying Superman with his dragon punch.

Cel Animation

A cel animation, short for celluloid animation, is a see through sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation. However actual celluloid (including of cellulose nitrate and camphor) was practised during the first half of the 20th century, but since it was dimensionally unstable and flammable it was hugely replaced with cellulose acetate. However now with the use of computer assisted animation production, the practise of cels has been practically abandoned in major productions such as Disney.

Spiderman fights the sinister six

Peter Parker, known as Spiderman, is sleeping as what seems to me to be a mutated black thing which is known as symbiote takes over his body and takes him towards a bank, the bank is being robbed by six convicts, known as sinister six. At first when he reaches there, the sinister sux defeat him terribly, but as the cel animation progresses and Rhino (a convict amongst the sinister six) runs towards him, prepared to crush his body with his horn whilst Dr Octopus (another convict amongst the sinister six) holds his legs and arms with his mechanic arm but just as Rhino is about to crush him, invisible arm appears from Spiderman's suit and whips Rhino and Dr Octopus in the eyes. Polices arrive on the scene to stop the sinister six. Even though Spiderman gets beaten several of times, gradually as the battle progresses, he defeats the sinister six. Dr Octopus is the last to be defeated, as Spiderman is about to his Dr Octopus's own claws against him, the police quickly get involved in the battle and shout to Spiderman to stop as the battle is over and he won. Then Spiderman quickly retreats as he swings away from the scene.

Rotoscoping

Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace (draw) over footages, frame by frame (images by images), for use in live-action and animation films. However initially recorded live-action film frames were projected onto a frosted glass panel and re-drawn by an animator. This method is what is called a rotoscope, eventually this device was replaced by computers.

The technique was invented by cartoonist, illustrator, writer and inventor Max Fleischer, who has used it in his machinery ground breaking: out of the inkwell animated series.

Rotoscoping short animation

A woman drives by a riverside and then through a forest whilst speaking to a friend through the phone. When he finishes speaking to her friend through the phone, she decides to smoke, just as she takes the last cigarette in the pack and spark it with a match stick, the match stick burns her and she decides to stop the car in the midst of the road to make sure she's okay and nothing's on her clothes. She finds a dollar outside her car door and looks around strangely, then she discovers more dollars as she walks closer and closer towards the grasses until she finds few blood on the grasses. However I don't seem to understand whether it was the blood or body covered with white sheet, bloodily, that made her run towards her car drive but that's what she does. As the woman is driving, she dials 110 which is the police but then declines it and decides to keep all the money she found while she drives away.

Drawn on film

Drawn-on-animation is an animation technique where footage is generated by creating the images directly on film stock, as against to any other form of animation in where the pictures or objects are photographed frame by frame (image by image) with an animation camera.

The first few and best known practitioners of drawn-on-film animation include Len Lye, Norman McLaren, Stan Barkhage, but then later artists such as Steven Woloshenm Richard R. Reeves and Baerbel Neubauer, who created numerous animated films using this method.

The Lion King - Scar confesses 

Scar is about to slay one of the lions but then Simba appears and quickly rushes to protect the lion that's laying on the ground to affirm she's well, it seems to me that the lion laying on the ground may be Simba's mother. Simba then confronts scar and corners him. Then more lions arrive to help Simba whilst Scar has hyenas to defend him.Then Scar tries to blame the death of Simba's father on Simba and frighten him and Simba turns afraid and slowly starts to walk backwards as Scar walks towards him until Simba nearly falls in a fire pit, but then Simba quickly retaliates and jumps on Scar with his claws on Scar's neck commanding Scar to tell the truth about whose truly responsible for the death of Simba's father which is Scar himself.

Digital applications

Digital applications animation is practically a digital successor to the stop motion techniques used in traditional animation with 3D models and frame by frame (image by image) animation of 2D illustration. It is more controllable than other more physically needed processes. To produce the illusion of movement, an image is put on the computer monitor and repeatedly replaced by a new image that is similar to it and advanced slightly in time. 

Early digital application animation was developed at Bell Telephone Laboratories in the 1960s by Edward E. Zajac, Frank W. Sinden, Kenneth C, Knowlton, and A. Michael Noll, furthermore other digital animation was practised at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. One of the earliest step in the history of computer animation was the 1973 movie Westworld which was a science-fiction movie about a society in which robots lived and worked amongst human beings. 

Pixar Cars - Tuner Scene

Four cars drive through the free-way, with their music loud and driving fast. They first evade few cars on the road before they drive and see Tuner, just as all the cars about to drive past Tuner, one of the car realizes it's McQueen and informs all the other cars. Then one of car drives in front of Tuner the truck whilst two ride beside the Tuner and one rides behind Tuner. The one in front turns on a sleepy sound and Tuner slowly starts to fall asleep, the two besides Tuner start to push him to each other until the car on the right evades him on purpose and Tuner slowly drifts off the free-way, they all drive laughing and the back door of Tuner the truck opens and McQueen without realizing it rides off the truck. The car that was behind Tuner then sneezes and wakes up Tuner and then Tuner quickly realizes that he's drifting off the road but then comes back on the road but doesn't realize McQueen is gone.

Claymation

Clay animation is one of several forms of stop motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is deformable which means that it is made of a malleable substance which usually is plasticine clay.

Each object or character is sculpted from clay or other similar pliable material as Plasticine and then arranged around on the set, where it is photographed once before slightly being moved again by hand to prepare it for the next shot, and so on until the animator is pleased with the amount of film. A consistent shooting environment is essential to maintain the illusion of continually.

Clay animation film were produced in the United States for as early as 1908, when Edison Manufacturing released a trick movie named The Sculptor's Welsh Rarebit Dream.

Wallace and Gormit - The Bully Proof Vest

Wallace makes himself a mid-night food but then quickly is frightened by the door slamming itself. Outside the window, behind Wallace, appears a shadow that's watching him but then disappears. Wallace continues preparing his food, once he finishes, Wallace goes inside the living room in a terrified state to eat. However just as he enters the living room, the same shadow sneaks around the kitchen and tries to make his way to the living room. Wallace then sits and enjoys eating but then suddenly the person sneaking around watches Wallace from behind the curtains, Wallace hears a noise near the curtains but the person disappears and in the process snatches Wallace's food without him realizing it but then when Wallace continues to eat, he then realizes the food no longer is in his hand, he realizes the wardrobe slowly close and hears a small noise from inside and then decides to walk towards it to check what is inside the wardrobe. Wallace opens the wardrobe but doesn't find nothing except the cracker that was stolen from his hand and is surprised and scared but then when he turns around he finds Gormit covered in black suit with a kitchen roller as weapon, making different moves as he prepares to attack Wallace. Wallace has this machine box with a chain around his neck and clicks on the button and then a hand that punches comes out of Wallace's box and punches Gormit on the face and Gormit flies through the door and lands on the other side. As Wallace walks towards Gormit, he slips on the kitchen roller and lands on his front and accident presses the button and the punch comes out which makes an impact that makes Wallace hit the ceiling.